Kama Loki Sacred Darcy
by Elizabeth Athineu
Summary: Having been forgiven worlds of transgressions in his marriage to Darcy, Loki now finds that his perfect world and authority are crumbling and cannot understand why. It will take a secret Hindu text to reveal the true nature of the trickster and the taser-girl and save their union as well as the stability of their realms!
1. Faith & Release or The Third Age of Man

**Kama-Loki/Sacred Darcy**

**or**

**The Five Dharmas of Midgard**

(Part 1: Faith and Release or The Third Age of Man)

"That's it, Loki, I have had it with your detours! I specifically told you to avoid that part of the city!" Darcy said angrily.

Several sets of eyes, ears, heads, and necks all turned in the direction of the approaching otherworldly family. Darcy, Loki, and their daughter Gaea made regular visits to earth, but one day in particular every year saw Gaea placed directly in the care of either her 'uncle', Darcy's distant cousin Tony Stark, or her newly appointed Godfather, Volstagg. Loki had enjoyed the sundry visits to Midgard in various regions, some of them extended as Darcy's obligations as an ambassador demanded, but the interactions with Stark were rarely pleasant and the trickster loathed all the more that his daughter seemed to adore him. The two had arrived on the balcony of Stark Tower after a brief and unwanted detour in the lower east side and all its degradation, a deliberate defiance of Darcy's wishes. Waiting in the large greeting room were Pepper, Stark himself, Dr. Banner and his own assistant Chandi, and Rogers as well. As soon as the sound of Darcy's voice manifested itself, Rogers bid his companions goodbye (not wanting any further confusing interactions with the trickster at the moment) and Banner announced that he and Chandi to would go and wait downstairs.

The three appeared in the doorway with Darcy clutching the wailing toddler as she hurried past her husband. "One simple thing, Loki, every time we come back to earth no matter where we go I always ask you to do one thing and you never listen!" she exclaimed. Her voice was loud and angry enough to carry over Gaea's pained bewailing. "Why do you do this? You always do this! Every time we come here you've got to go somewhere run down and . . ."

"Lacking in the very care and guidance that I personally offered humanity at least five years ago," Loki said defensively, placing a hand on his chest in a noble fist. He feigned pity and concern. "I am only trying to show her how blessed her life on Sylvanheim is and what duties she will have to change the state of the mess in this realm."

"No, Loki, you want to terrorize her into thinking your stupid delusions are truth and I'm not taking it anymore!" Darcy shouted. Pepper glanced uneasily at Tony who frowned and shook his head. "Why can't you just do what I tell you to do when we're in my realm? MY realm . . . we'll do what you want in your realm but here the human's wants come first!"

"You are much more than a mere human, Darcy," Loki said smoothly, trying to placate the anger he had once again incensed. This was made all the more terrible by the fact that it coincided with their nuptial anniversary, a time which humans held sacred and Loki had come to know as a time of both celebration and dismal disappointment for Darcy. "Besides, as her father I have just as much a say in her tutelage as you do if not more so being her king as well. Furthermore . . ."

"Don't you dare start that up again," Darcy warned. Pepper felt an unusually high amount of tension this time. Whatever had happened before their arrival it had made his custom display of appearing in a slum or violent area near where Darcy was actually called to be all the more aggravating for the young woman. She glanced back at Tony and nodded towards the two. He raised a brow in confusion and then recognized her meaning. He nodded and rose slowly, trying to approach the fierce pair without creating even more of a problem. "You're a king on Sylvanheim to people that need you, but you're not going to start your superiority crap on me or our daughter. For cripe's sake, what the heck do you think that's going to do to her when she's a teenager?!"

Loki stared back at Darcy in confusion. He was king, what was so difficult or upsetting about that? "She will have learned well how to respect her sovereign and I would hope that her lessons and manners would make her a refined princess by the time she's beyond her girlhood," Loki replied casually. Pepper groaned inwardly and Tony shook his head. The trickster had a way with words with everyone, it seemed, but Darcy when irritated particularly now that they had become a family with conflicting obligations to very different realms. Even Odin had backed away from involvement in their issues as of late. "And by the time we find her a suitor she will also have . . . "

"Holy cow it never ends with you! Are you really that much of a chauvinist? Maybe that's the reason you won't listen to me you can't hear me all the way back in the Neolithic era you troglodyte!" Darcy shouted. Loki frowned at her. He had noted that she had been in poor spirits weeks before they had left, but had felt it best to say nothing. The detours to the suffering of humanity, something he felt Gaea would learn well from, were nothing new. Why was she so angered now? Gaea began to cry more loudly and cover her ears as her parents continued carrying on. "You see this? Do you see what you've done to your daughter? This is your fault, your fault, Loki!"

"My fault?" Loki countered. "You, madam, are the one shouting."

"Yeah, because of you, you big . . ." Darcy began.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on people, give peace a chance will ya?" Tony interjected as he finally made his way quickly to Darcy's side. The two grew silent as Gaea continued to cry and turned towards her uncle holding out her arms to him. Stark sighed and firmly, swiftly, took Gaea into his arms and stepped a few safe inches away from his 'cousin'. "You two need help, you know that, right? Serious help. This is like the fourth or fifth time this year you've gone at each other on a visit." Loki growled low prompting a furious and reproachful glare from Darcy who then turned and watched her only living relative gently holding her child with the tenderness and affection that were the perfect answer to the situation. She whined pitifully and rested her forehead against his collarbone, not wanting to lock eyes with anyone as she furiously wiped tears away. "Now I get that you took one of your little miniature dark-expose' detours into some run-down part of the city," Stark commented with a caustic smirk at the trickster. Darcy quickly shot her husband a look of smug approval at her cousin's statement. Loki simply sighed heavily and frowned, folding his arms behind him as Stark continued. "But what exactly happened that made this little angel's world collapse like this, huh? Did you finally show her the footage from your little visit back in 2012?"

"There was a puppy sitting in a box with no mommy and daddy and no toys and no bed and it was all was sick and it had only one ear. And I wanted to take him home and make him better and daddy says we can't because someone's already going to kill him and eat him!" Gaea wailed. She buried her face further into her uncle's shoulder and wept.

"Wow, you're a really sick bastard," Stark said turning back to Loki with feigned surprise. "So you took her to Little Korea to the livestock section, is that it?"

"Tony!" Pepper shouted indignantly. "Try not to be an insensitive borderline racist this week."

"And watch your language in the presence of my child," Loki warned. "And it just so happens that in that portion of the city that is part of the circle of survival."

"I will watch my language meticulously, your highness, but since you're so into her knowing the truth I don't see why I can't call you something accurate," he retorted.

The trickster clenched one hand into a fist, allowing it to turn its natural blue as his eyes glowed red and hungry. Darcy cleared her throat and raised one brow, signaling him to cease all of it at once. Loki suddenly realized that he had become exactly what he had seen in his father; a king under the rule of powerful wife. He groaned inwardly and watched with restrained hatred as Stark assured the girl that everyone loves dogs which is why they're called 'man's best friend' and that no one would ever eat their best friend. Loki took a furious step towards the two as Darcy caught his arm. "He's lying to her," he whispered furiously. "You chastise me for playful deception and here you let him lie to her!"

"It's not really a lie, not all of it, and it's better than what you were doing," Darcy whispered back.

"Is it, now?" Loki snorted indignantly.

"I have to be ready to speak to the summit tomorrow morning," she said a little more loudly. He nodded. "I'll get Gaea settled here and I'll be turning in soon . . ."

"I take it we will be saddled with our usual quarters, then?" he grumbled. As magnificent as accommodations at Stark Tower might have seemed to any human, they were anything but pleasant to the trickster even beside his beloved. Darcy turned and looked at him, a tear glimmering in the corner of each eye.

"I want you to go home," she said flatly.

"What?" His eyes widened in disbelief. "Why?"

Darcy looked down and fought back a sob. "You're not here to be a diplomat, you just want to be superior to everyone and everything," she said softly and then turned looking at their daughter. "You don't love me."

"How dare you say such a despicable fabrication! How can you think I feel anything but love for you? For Gaea?" he demanded in a harsh whisper.

Darcy shook her head. "Every time we come here, every time we go anywhere, all you do is point out how weak humans are, how backwards, how unrefined, how . . ." she fought back another sob. "How base we are."

"As a general rule, Darcy, most humans are weak, a great deal more backwards than most, consistently unrefined, and mortals by comparison are base," he argued. "Is that not why I lifted you above them? You were much more even before your immortality and now you refute that you have become something greater? Few humans are the diamond you are that lay hidden in the filthy lump of coal I carried away from your world."

Darcy turned and glared hatefully at him, her nostrils flaring. "Loki, that was the most hurtful thing you have ever said to me," she said, unable to hold back all of the sobbing, but able to restrain a good portion of it. He frowned and reached out for her as she stepped backwards. "I've never thrown it back at you that you murdered people, that you enslaved people, and that you kidnapped people, but you can't let anyone else's flaws go, can you?"

"Darcy, it was never meant as an insult to you personally, it is scientific fact," Loki countered, hoping that using a logical argument would work more to his advantage. Darcy shook her head and turned away. Stark stepped into the other room, still holding onto Gaea and offering her the same protection from the horrors of a faltering romance that his mother had tried to offer him with his father's ever drunken exploit. Pepper stood a safe distance away watching sadly as Darcy folded her arms. "If it upsets you this greatly, if it has truly offended you . . ."

"If? IF?! You're stupid enough to put in the possibility that it didn't offend me?! What the heck is wrong with you that I haven't already had to address with your various family members or hear about in newscasts?! Are you stupid or just careless? Huh?! Which is it?!"

Darcy had shouted the last few words and Loki felt an ache in his heart. He breathed deeply and lowered his head. "Darcy, I apologize . . ."

"For what?" she interjected angrily. He breathed deeply and tried to think of something perfect to say. A silvertongue was useless in the volcano of rage that she had become. She was right, though, this was his fault. Somehow he had missed something important, something significant and it had created a small crack in her heart that had grown to a full fracture causing her such pain that he could not easily soothe. He looked away once more, unsure of how to remedy this. "Huh? Why are you are sorry?"

"I don't . . . I don't know what you want me to say, but I am pained to see you in such ferment," he replied softly.

"You don't know? You don't know?!" she said loudly, dropping her arms in exasperation. "Really?"

"What do I say to you to when you already angered that would in any way assuage the fire I started?" he said with sincere regret.

Darcy groaned and grasped her forehead. "Loki, I just . . . I just can't deal with you right now." The two could hear Gaea's voice from the other room where she sat in her uncle's lap, a decent escape from the hostility of her parents. The two moved towards the doorway and peeked in at the little girl settled happily on the man's lap with her tiny hand on his chest, fingers resting just below the glowing arc reactor.

"Why is your heart blue?" she asked innocently. Unaware of the other, both her parents slightly grinned.

Tony shifted and sighed, pulling her closer. "Well, it might be because I haven't found a wife of my own yet and it's blue because I'm lonely," he explained. Gaea looked up at him with innocent, enormous green eyes. He smiled back, feeling as wonderful as ever with this truly lovely and innocent creature in his presence and knowing that he had essentially rescued her from certain misery and tears. He leaned his face closer to her and spoke very softly. "I'll tell you a secret, though; it changes if something magical happens."

"What magic happens?" she asked in a hushed and excited tone.

He grinned and pushed a lock of dark, swirling hair away from her pale brow. "Well, I can't be sure because it hasn't happened yet, but if I get a kiss from a princess . . . " he said with a grin. "It'll turn pink."

"Why pink?" Gaea asked in confusion, sitting back away from him.

He shrugged. "I guess princess magic is pink, that's all," he said with a sigh.

Just as he had hoped, Gaea leaned forward in a flash and tenderly placed her small, innocent lips against his well-aged cheek, cupping either side of his head affectionately before pulling away. Tony smiled and, unseen to the small child, pressed a button on his wristband. As Gaea sat back down on her knees in his lap and turned her gaze downward to scan for any changes to the glowing light, the reactor's blue slowly faded and then lit up in a fluorescent pink. Gaea gasped and clapped happily. "It worked, it really worked!" she said happily.

"Of course it worked," Stark replied, stroking her head softly. "You're a princess."

"Such impertinence with a child that isn't even his own," Loki seethed enviously. Darcy turned to him and shook her head. Yet another moment ruined by his jealousy and anger. She walked away, arms still folded. He frowned and followed after her as she reached the door to the room that she was accustomed to sharing with Loki when they visited her cousin that she would have to herself this night. The trickster sighed and watched her stand in the doorway, turned away from him. "I will return and wait for you to complete this mission," he offered cautiously. She said nothing, leaning against the facing of the door almost sadly. "When will you be returning, then? Tomorrow night or the night after?"

"I don't know," Darcy replied flatly in nearly a whisper. Loki's mind went numb and his body suddenly detached from every sensible nerve at those words. He tried to speak but felt his mouth go too dry for several moments. They stood in silence as he finally found the presence to draw in a labored breath and ask if she planned on coming home at all. Unseen by the trickster, several tears had streamed down Darcy's cheeks and she shook her head a little. "I don't know."

Loki felt his knees buckle ever so slightly under the shock of those words. Not far away, too curious to resist, Pepper watched and listened and felt an ache all her own in her heart. From what she had seen Darcy genuinely adored Loki and the trickster had utmost adoration and sincere affection for Darcy while both were tremendously in love with their daughter. Whatever had caused this rift it was serious and she felt oddly obligated to stop it at once. Loki had been a very selfish, childish, and cruel beast until he had captured the spritely Darcy. Pepper fought away the urge to rush forward and make a firm, verbal stand to both of them. Instead, she continued to watch patiently as the trickster nodded heavily and reached out for his beloved, placing his hands softly on her shoulders. She shifted and shoved both hands away as she walked forward to the window and looked out.

"You should get going before the kingdom falls to ruin," she muttered sarcastically.

"I am returning alone, Darcy," he replied sadly. "Ruin is inevitable." With that he turned and walked silently, out of the room. He bid a quick and obviously heavy farewell to Gaea. The child sensed something odd in her father, but was too distracted by the wonderful tricks her uncle was sowing her. Loki then hurried toward the platform balcony. Pepper drew in a deep breath and followed after him. She sprinted a few paces, unable to keep up with his long-legged gait. He sensed her presence and froze, waiting for her to speak. Pepper sighed and glanced from one side to the other. How did she address him? For that matter, how did she address the situation in general? "Unless you know, verbatim, Miss Potts, what I should say and do for my beloved this very moment to bring her back to my side and undo any mention of my being alone and her being so wounded then I suggest you go back to your own duties."

"Darcy isn't just mad that you took the detour, I'm sure you know that, but it doesn't seem right that you keep doing that when she's told you not to. Haven't you thought about the effect it's having on your little girl?" she asked. Loki glanced over his shoulder and lifted a brow at her obvious question. "Look, what I heard from her, and I speak 'woman', is that she feels inferior. If you really want to get her back, to prove your love, you need to appeal to her humanity by, well, exposing yours."

"Exposing my humanity?" Loki laughed as he turned to face the woman. "My dear I am no human, not by any means. You'll have to give better advice than that."

"Well, then, put on some kind of pretense. Show her that you don't think everything about her world disgusts you or is something else to conquer," she offered. Loki took this inwardly and thought for a moment. "Think about this, every time you call humanity or the earth weak or base or useless other than being a throne to rule, she sees you calling her that. Heck, she hears you calling everything and everyone she loves that as well."

"But there is so very little of your world that transcends a superficial need to consume and squabble," Loki countered. "Even you know this."

"I'm just going to ignore that subtle attack on my intellect for now. Transcending isn't something new to earth, people practice transcendental meditation and yoga all the time," she added. A light went on in the trickster's mind. He knew someone with access to information about both of those things and so much more. "I mean when you think about it, looking at your Norse texts versus the majority of everything that came out of the east we could argue that your world hasn't reached real enlightenment since . . . "

"Where is Doctor Banner?" Loki suddenly asked with a renewed enthusiasm. Pepper gave him a strange look. The trickster had purposefully avoided the raging green menace even in human form after the fiasco in Manhattan. "Where is he?"

"Uh, he's staying in one of the rooms downstairs for tonight, I think," Pepper explained cautiously. Loki grinned brightly and turned away. "Wait, you're not going to do anything, you know, weird and dangerous with him, are you?"

"Of course not," Loki replied with a smirk. ''It is enlightenment I seek."


	2. Seeking Knowledge or TheSecondAgeofMan

**Kama-Loki/Sacred Darcy**

**or**

**The Five Dharmas of Midgard**

(Part 2: Seeking Knowledge or The First Age of Man)

"What do you mean I would require more time?! I just told you I need that knowledge tonight!" Loki shouted furiously while standing in the doorway of the suite that Banner had been given by Stark to use while staying at the tower with Chandi. "Now, man, now! I need the information now!"

"Loki, Transcendental Meditation takes years and years of practice in order to get any benefits let alone master it," Banner corrected.

"True, but I am long-lived and have years behind me most humans would not. By default I have learned more lessons in patience and discipline than even the wisest of your race could boast," Loki snorted back.

"Oh really? You think your discipline and self-control could hold a candle to the Dalai Lama?" Banner said with a laugh. Loki gave him a look of confusion and the doctor sighed heavily. "Look, this is something even I don't have a lot of experience in. Why don't you talk to your parents about this or a marriage counselor or something?"

"A counselor? Is that not tantamount to a physician and is that not what your chosen field is when you are not laying waste to a settlement?" the trickster said with an angry sneer.

Banner's eyes began to glow a little green and he stepped further out of the doorway prompting the trickster to back up a pace. "You really want to compare who's done more damage?" Banner said in a low tone. "Do you?"

"Bruce, when are you coming back to the bedroom? I didn't buy that lotus chair to use alone and you've been working every night this week," Chandi suddenly interjected. Loki's ears perked up at the sound of her soft feminine voice coupled with her thick Hindi accept. It was beautiful. Her slender, polished, and cocoa coloured hand suddenly slunk over the doctor's shoulders and he seemed to ease down and relax at her touch. She then leaned forward and laid her chin against his shoulder affectionately. "You promised we would recite the third section together."

"The third section of what?" Loki asked, intrigued about any female being attracted to a creature like this particularly one so obviously sensual.

"The third section of 'none of your business now go away and get a book about listening to your wife', that's what," Banner snapped back. Loki frowned at him and noted that the man was doing everything in his power to not grab him by the ankles and slam him repeatedly into the ground once more. Banner quickly reached into one of his pockets and withdrew a business card and thrust it at the trickster. "Here, this guy's a family services specialist and if you two need a counselor or a shrink, which is probably going to help you more than her, then he'll know what to do, now just leave me alone right now."

"But I'll die if this continues!" Loki protested.

"Is he in distress?" Chandi asked with genuine concern. Banner groaned angrily as Loki quickly nodded to her. Chandi stepped back and smacked Banner's chest with the back of her hand reproachfully. "And you call yourself a doctor!" "I just gave him the advice he asked for, he's just staying around for attention and," Banner shot him a terribly angry look, that same green burning behind his calm veneer, ". . . to make trouble. That's what he does, it's his job."

"I beg your pardon, you half-formed misfit, my calling is mischief and the occasional bit of fun at someone else's expense, not trouble. Your forte' is trouble and plenty of it," Loki snapped back furiously. Many human writings had recently referred to him offensively as the 'God of Discord' or 'God of Evil' instead of his proper title and it was beyond infuriating. "Now I asked you to assist me to transcend into a better understanding of humanity that will win back my wife and I will have it whether or not you . . ."

"Transcendence is not Doctor Banner's field of expertise," Chandi announced casually. Both Banner and Loki turned to her in surprise. Banner felt a little humiliated at the words, having worked so hard at the principles Chandi taught long before meeting her, but she was right of course. Loki looked at the woman with renewed hope as she smiled brightly. "It is mine."

(*)

Banner had been very aggravated that Chandi had changed their plans for the evening, but she asserted to him that it was a spiritual emergency and was no different than a brain surgeon treating a person who had been in an automobile crash. He begrudgingly accompanied the two to her small Ashram on the other side of the Bronx, an area that had once been known for decay and degradation but had now been come to be known as a new-age community leading into a hippie commune. Chandi's Ashram was actually a set of small offices, therapy rooms, a large yoga studio, and an extensive library. While Loki explained the situation to her, which he noted that she listened to with surprising understanding and a calm that he had only seen in his mother, Chandi nodded and repeated a few things to make sure she understood everything that was transpiring. Banner continued to sigh, shake his head, and roll his eyes, not wanting to mutter that Darcy was the foremost expert in Stockholm Syndrome having married her kidnapper and even defended him from justice. Chandi led the way into the library and then turned, folding her hands neatly and looking at the trickster with a more serious expression.

"So then she has never seen you as you truly are?" she asked.

Loki stared at her in surprise. "She has seen me nude, if that is what you are asking," he replied. Chandi shook her head. "She has seen me in all forms of emotion and practicing magic, what else is there?"

"You said your family adopted you from a race of other creatures and that you appear as this because of your upbringing," Chandi quoted back. Loki felt stunned. He hadn't meant to tell this stranger such a thing. She exuded such serenity that it had just slipped out. He took a step backwards. "You are afraid to show her so you keep a cloak of deception about you as you have done for years. She clearly thinks that your seeing humans as inferior and base is why you hide this from her and it offends."

"I'm not sure it's that simple," Banner added with irritation.

"Show me your real features," Chandi said matter-of-factly. Loki stared at her defiantly and then glanced at Banner as if to ask if she was serious. "Go on."

"I hardly think it appropriate," Loki replied.

Chandi sighed and shook her head. She turned and strode to the other side of the library, the other two following close behind cautiously. "It seems to me that until you embrace truth, she cannot feel at ease. You will forever be fighting what is real and what is best," she replied flatly. She pointed to a large tapestry featuring a panoply of sundry characters. It's colourful pictures depicted a four-armed blue man with a golden crown holding different objects in each hand; a strand of beads, a lotus blossom, a chalice, and making a symbol with his fingers with the last. Other characters surrounded him, a multi-armed elephant with jewelry, a six-armed woman who seemed to be dancing in blood while holding swords and a garland of human skulls, tigers, flowers, and even a green-coloured man with a bow and arrow on a cloud aiming for two lovers locked in an embrace. Loki stared at it in amazement and tried to take in all the features at once. "This, all of this," Chandi said, "All that is true is Dharma. When we embrace dharma we can find peace. It is the path that we choose that leads us to it."

Loki remained affixed on the blue-skinned figure in the center. "Who is this?" he asked, softly stroking the tapestry with affection that made Chandi smile brightly.

"That is Krishna, Lord of Creation. He brings peace and harmony to his followers. Those that seek to further their own Karma, to act through rightness and good deeds, follow Krishna," she explained. She noted a measure of comfort and admiration in the trickster's green eyes at this being. He turned and glanced at the six-armed woman and frowned a little. Chandi pointed to her. "That is Kali, Goddess of Death and Rebirth, of Destruction. Without destruction, without death, there can be no life."

"How can that be? Death undoes life," Loki argued.

"Actually, death is a part of life, the last part," Banner interjected. Chandi nodded to him proudly. "You have to have opposites in order to have existence. I've read Norse Myths; you can't have fire without ice, you can't have light without dark."

"I see," Loki muttered, glancing back at the tapestry. His eyes fell back on the archer and the lovers and he wondered if that was their own God of Mischief, of Discord. Chandi smiled and moved closer to him.

"That is Kama, the God of Love and Desire," she explained.

"Then why does he point a violent weapon at those that need him?" Loki asked.

"That's not a weapon it's a tool," Banner interjected once more. Chandi beamed at him and nodded. "The lovers are struck with arrows tipped with the essence of desire and then they achieve true happiness by ascending to the plane of ecstasy."

"If they can ever learn to do 'The Serpent Greets The Swan' without pulling a hamstring," Chandi teased.

"Hey, when we first met I was more limber than anyone else in the class, you said so yourself," Banner corrected. Loki looked back and forth between the two of them and frowned. "Besides, that's not really something to mention in front of other people."

"Please, Bruce, I was raised in a Tantric Home, remember?" Chandi said with a sigh walking past them to a bookshelf and glancing at the titles. "Clothing wasn't even required. And now I help others to overcome such boundaries. Ah, here we are!" She pulled two books from the shelf and strode back over to Loki, handing them to him. He accepted them and looked at the titles with intrigue. "It seems to me that you are on the path of seeking liberation from illusion, yes? You want truth, you want acceptance, and you want to transcend . . . and so does your life mate." Loki nodded and began to flip through the three books, already marveling at the colourful pictures. "Your path is the same path my parents chose, the same path I chose, it is Tantra."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think the last thing The God of Mischief needs is a manual on Tantric anything to fix his marriage or give him ideas," Banner protested, trying to take hold of the books. Loki deftly pulled them back as Chandi smacked him reproachfully again. "What? Sex isn't what he needs it's resolution, possibly time in a mental health institution."

"Don't listen to that and no one needs time in those havens of lies," Chandi corrected giving Banner a sharp look. Loki nodded, still looking at the titles. "There is no need for complete conversion, but these principles might just be what you need to reconcile the you that is hidden from her, with the you that she wishes to see."

"India's Love Lyrics, An Introduction To Tantric Meditation and the Five Holy Pillars," Loki read aloud noting the titles. "The Kama Sutra."

"Oh brother," Banner mumbled, grasping his forehead. "This is definitely not a good idea."

"Do you really think this will help? It's all written by mortals," Loki remarked glancing at the pages of the sutras.

"Some mortals write the utterings of the gods," Chandi said. Loki perked up and turned to her. He smiled slowly and nodded. "If you believe that you love her then make it true."

"I will," he replied with a nod. He glanced back at the tapestry one last time, one last remembrance of who was who on the small illustrated Hindu Pantheon. "Thank you."

"Namaste'," Chandi said, folding her hands and nodding politely. Before Banner could say anything further or Chandi could lift her head, the trickster had disappeared. The woman smiled and turned back to her student and employer. "Now, I believe we had other plans this evening."

(*)

Darcy paced back and forth in her room. She had received a message that the summit had been cancelled as another barrage of fighting had erupted overseas. She regretted having told Loki to go home and wished madly that she could be back in her own bed, in their bed, not thinking about the madness that they had endured. She had assured Gaea that even though mommy and daddy were angry that they loved her and always would. Darcy had contemplated the notion of not returning to Sylvanheim when asking him to leave for home, but now that he had left she felt terribly incomplete and knew that no matter how angry she was with him, no matter what atrocities he committed, she would never be able to stay away from him or stop loving him.

She wiped away a few tears furiously and sat down on the edge of the bed. She couldn't understand exactly why he had to show himself so often, to defy her wishes to make a spectacle of the inferiority of other creatures. She groaned, the ache growing stronger, and laid back on the bed, clutching the pillow to her chest. She sobbed for a while silently and wished that the night would just close in around her and allow her to drift into a dreamless sleep. After several moments, her wish was granted and she was finally at peace, at least for the moment.

(*)

Loki sat on the balcony of Stark Tower well-hidden in one of the shadows for a few moments. He quickly poured over the introduction book that promised transcendence and meditation. With his intellect and powers it took less than an hour to nearly memorize the entire book and while not all of it seemed to please him, part of him began to see what Chandi had said about disguising his true form from Darcy. She had only seen it once, briefly, in anger and he had harmed her. He read through the next, a book of poetry, in less than half the time it took to read the first and devoured every word. Humans might have been fragile and inferior creatures in need of guidance, but they clearly had at least a few Midgardian citizens with the gift of silver-tongue on paper and obviously in person. The third book took a little longer than the first and caused the trickster to reconsider the entire notion of his intimacy with Darcy. He had always considered her needs before his own, the one time in life he had never felt selfish which could be attested by Sif as well. But he had yet to give her truth in the love he made to her.

He sat silently with all three books beside him and waved a hand, summoning another book from Chandi's library that he had noticed. The tome described a brief history of the country and detailed some of its most beautiful places to see and admire as well as a more clear view of their own Gods and Goddesses. Loki held open the pages between Krishna and Kali, touching the images gently. He appeared nearly similar to Krishna, but his reputation was clearly leaning towards the vengeful goddess. He sighed and turned the pages. How could he possibly expect Darcy to love him after showing her his true form for very long, particularly after all the terrible things he had done to her? She had forgiven him over and over again, but he had found mortals the least forgiving of any race when it came to physical imperfections except perhaps elves.

Chandi's words haunted him, "If you believe you love her, then make it true."

He _**did**_ love her. He had said so on many occasions, he had done many good things for her. Why wasn't it truth now? Was it because he had abducted her to begin with? No, she had forgiven him that. Was it because he had taken her innocence? No, they had married in that fashion and again she had forgiven him even with the transgression he had made in going and announcing it to his brother, the Warriors Three, and Lady Sif. What in the Nine Realms was distancing her from him so greatly and incensing her so often? She didn't believe he loved her, she had said so. But why? Because she doesn't know you, not all of you, a voice within him answered matter-of-factly. Once again, the voice sounded curiously like Brenhin's and Loki nodded to himself.

He made an oath to himself; he would cease the incessant defiance of her wishes on earth. He would do his best to cease any offensive terms about humanity particularly in her presence. He glanced back at the wide glass window that had acted as a futile barrier for Stark when he had attacked and groaned inwardly. He would have to be more cordial, whatever it took, to her living family and his own if he was to ever have peace with his own wife and their child . . . hopefully children. He glanced back down at the book at a particularly lovely garden outside something meant to look like a palace. The picture had been made of one of the outdoor bedrooms and displayed a silk-lined bed almost covered in pillows surrounded by palm trees, huge exotic flowering bushes, and a stone reflective pond lined with lotus blossoms. He sighed and smiled. There was one thing to do before beginning this oath outright, he realized, and it would take Darcy's involvement.

(*)

Darcy awoke with a start. She gasped in her sleep and shook it away violently. She had dreamt of walking away from the palace on Sylvanheim and in her mind it had been with the notion of doing so forever. As she had walked out into the familiar and dangerous forest darkness had begun to envelope her. When she had turned around to try and race back to the fortress turned palace, she realized that she was lost and could see nothing, absolutely nothing. She could hear Loki and Gaea calling her name, wailing and weeping for her, but she could see nothing and then began to fall. The fall ended as her eyes popped open and she sucked in several sharp breaths, pushing the nightmare away. She leaned forward, cupping her face in her hands as she breathed deeply. It was only a dream.

She suddenly felt strange. She looked down at her hands and arms and realized that she wasn't wearing her cotton tank top and plain underwear any longer. She gasped as she saw that she was clad in a bright orange Sari trimmed in gold and purple designs. She could feel that her long hair had been pulled back and she reached around, feeling for it instinctively. It had pulled and gently styled into a long, dark braid and as she withdrew her hand, she detected the presence of a reddish powder. She ignored this and looked around her a little more. She also realized that she had been lying against an enormous pile of wonderful pillows, all various sizes, shapes, colours, patterns, and soft as clouds. The bed was made with red silk and she hurriedly climbed off realizing that she was barefoot and that she was no longer in Kansas . . . or Manhattan.

The ground beneath her was somewhat cool gray stone and she took in the rest of her surroundings cautiously. It was a beautiful garden and the full moon was hanging silently in the sky more close than ever before. This must've been another dream, she thought. A large reflective pool lay a great number of yards away from the bed, but was still clearly in sight. All the exotic plants and palms wafted their delightful perfumes in the night air. It was much warmer than Sylvanheim, no less than what she expected in an area with such exotic plant-life and these clothes and the ornate bed. This seemed very Eastern, very Indian, and very much the work of magic.

She heard a loud, but lovely chirp and suddenly a small bluebird landed on one of the palm fronds, balancing itself perfectly and perching with a small scroll held under one wing. Darcy looked at it in confusion. Not only were bluebirds diurnal, they hardly carried messages in their wings, and they certainly didn't light on the fronds of palm trees. It chirped happily and bowed its head, gesturing regally with its other wing. "No reeds for a cart, no frogs for my horses, but this is the errand I perceive, I bring a message you will read," the bird suddenly said. Darcy took a step backwards. The bird spoke . . . in English. That wasn't as unsettling to Darcy as it's Pakistani accent (obviously Loki's attempt to play on the playful story they had shared enjoying and had read together with Gaea), but what was most unsettling was the bird's ability to hold the note out to her. She cautiously reached out and accepted it. "Thank you, goodbye, goodnight."

Darcy shook her head and stared in amazement as she watched the blue bird, or Podna, disappear into the starry sky. She sighed and moved back over to the bed, opening the scroll and reading it. It was a poem of some kind, though definitely not something Loki had written. She stood as she continued to read, walking blindly through the garden adjacent to the outdoor bedchamber and the gazing pool. The scents of the lilies and lotus grew more fragrant and soothing as she moved. She glanced around the garden halfway through the poem and frowned. This was obviously a dream or at least an illusion created by Loki as he had done on a few other occasions. She was told to think of them as vacations within the mind and spirit on planes that the body could not visit itself. She suddenly noticed a small stone bench and sat down, pulling her legs up and around her and admiring how comfortable the Sari actually seemed.

"The fireflies shall light you, And naught shall afright you, Nothing shall trouble the Flight of the Hours," she read aloud. She glanced back at the title at the top of the parchment. In the Garden of Kama: Kama, the Indian Eros. The poem did have some subtle sensuality, she thought, but it was certainly nowhere near as detailed or sexual as many other Indian texts. The Kama Sutra alone was more detailed than some of the nursing textbooks she had reviewed before switching her majors. Still, that book had its own poetry and she had pondered sharing it with Loki on several occasions, but was afraid of what a powerful Asgardian-raised half-Jotun half-elf would do to a mere mortal even with longevity. She shuddered and shoved those thoughts aside as she continued to read aloud. "Come for I wait for you, Night is too late for you, Come while the twilight is closing the flowers."

Several of the palm trees rustled and Darcy turned. She couldn't see anyone, but she could hear them quite clearly. She began to tremble a little at the thought that maybe it hadn't been Loki that had brought her here. He had many enemies and she was no stranger to threats from each and every one of them. The Svartalfkind (the black elves, darker than the dark elves and allies of the dwarves) had many serious grudges to settle and had threatened to kidnap her and destroy all her memories of the past and make her a slave to their king, Malekith. The Jotun rebels that had escaped Drifa's order to be killed had threatened to take her and seal her alive in ice to suffer endlessly. She wasn't sure what threats Thanos had made against her because Loki was too afraid to share them, but she could only imagine what horrors he would visit on her after what he had done to her beloved.

What better way to lure her into a trap than something so beautiful? She cursed herself for sending Loki away; she had forgotten in her anger what danger that meant for herself and for Gaea. No, Gaea was safe as long as Tony was nearby. He watched her like a she-wolf and was as doting, if not more so, than her own father. Darcy shuddered at realizing that for the first time in years, she was truly alone. She began to tremble and weaken in her limbs. She felt her grip on the paper disappear and a breeze suddenly caught it, floating it off into the same section of palms that had rustled and caught her attention. She swallowed hard and stood, ready to face whatever it was.

A voice, a familiar and soothing voice, recited the rest of the lines on the parchment. "Every breeze still is And scented with lilies Cooled by the twilight, refreshed by the dew," Loki recited from somewhere in the palms.

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief and slowly moved towards the trees. She reached out and parted the branches. Her expression dropped as she didn't see him at all. She parted more branches, searching ever inch of the area, her heart sinking further and further as she couldn't find him. Her eyes suddenly fell on a clearing within the palm trees hidden from anyone merely walking by. It was a mosaic mandala and at its very center was the green Hindu God, Kama. Darcy recognized him from her international studies and the entire tile portrait was gorgeous.

He sat atop a cloud as usual with a red arrow pointed down, aiming at two lovers. Her heart leapt at the sight of the two lovers. One of them was quite obviously her in her current attire, glasses and all, but the other was unusual. It must've been Loki, it must have, but the skin was blue, the eyes were red, and there were other markings on him that Loki didn't have. He also wore a traditional pair of silken pants and a sash, these were gold and trimmed with green and red. She furrowed her brow and then a memory flashed before her. When Loki had wounded her with ice on Sylvanheim, when her hand had been terribly frozen, she had seen him blue and strangely marked. She stared more deeply at the mosaic and knelt, gently stroking the outline of the periwinkle that made his face and shoulders.

Darcy felt the small hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention as she heard his voice once more. "The garden lies breathless, Where Kama, the Deathless, In the hushed starlight, is waiting for you."


	3. Pleasure & Prime or The First Age of Man

**Kama-Loki/Sacred Darcy**

**or**

**The Five Dharmas of Midgard**

(Part 3: Pleasure and Prime or The Second Age of Man)

!Contains nudity and sexual themes!

Darcy stood turned slowly, realizing that the voice was coming from behind her. As she turned and stood gazing at her beloved, she gasped. He stared back at her as if having been stripped naked and paraded in front of a conflicted crowd. He was indeed clad with the silken trousers and sash, the only covering over his otherwise bare chest; gold, green, and red as well as a ruby in the center of his forehead. The ruby was surrounded by strange markings that could've been keloid scars perfectly formed into rings or natural birthmarks making a strange bull's-eye. His skin was blue, just as the portrait had displayed and just as she had remembered from the brief recollection and his eyes glistened crimson as she stared at him.

His hair was still black, though considerably longer and tied into a tight braid mingled with vermillion, a wedding tradition in India she had been told. He breathed deeply and stared at her as she noticed other odd markings on him as well, mostly repeating circles like the ones on his brow, some looking more like scars for their own sake. He was stunning, he was beautiful. If all ice-giants, or frost giants looked like this then they were simply bluer versions of the magnificent elves she had seen on film and nothing to be feared or hated. Even his lips only seemed darker blue, but nothing abnormal compared to the rest of him . . . the same soft inviting perfect ridges everywhere on his face and shoulders. He looked down and drew in a deep breath.

"Darcy," he said softly, "I know what it is that angers you so terribly, what tears at the bonds between us." Darcy stood speechless. The whole incident had been upsetting, but in retrospect she felt awful, as if she had blown the entire thing out of proportion. They had quarreled more and more lately, just as Tony had pointed out, but not only on earth. Darcy had yet to understand why and feared that either Loki had grown weary of a human companion or that she was becoming far too sensitive in some kind of odd reaction to being given the gift of longevity. Those thoughts began to play through her mind again and Loki, sensing this, raised a hand to quiet her spinning ideas. "I should've shown you, I should've shown you everything from the beginning. There should be no secrets in a family."

Darcy simply nodded and bit her lip standing perfectly still. He took a step towards her cautiously, gauging her reactions and thoughts as prudently as a predator, but with entirely different intent. Oh, how he wanted to devour her, but he wanted first to make his love, his undying affection, truth. He had grown fond of the title of husband and the title of father aside from the already inherited and earned title of King. He had grown even more fond of the titles lover and 'snuggle-buddy' as Darcy had playfully called him on no less than seven occasions. She was the one creature that sought out goodness in him and only goodness and it pleased him.

"There comes a time, Darcy, when one must accept what they are regardless of their desires, to meet their destiny instead of desperately avoiding it," he said carefully. Darcy's heart sank a little, her mind still focused on her own flaws, on her mortal coil that, although she had been given longevity, was still frail and emotionally volatile by comparison to the Asgardian women and the elves. She began to tremble and hold back tears as he spoke. Loki feared that he was saying the wrong thing and, reading her mind, tried to think of something to urge her thinking in another direction. He reached out for her and she turned away, clutching her chest. His breath caught heavily in his chest and he lingered, trembling as well. "Will you not at least hear me?"

"I'm listening, Loki," she said, her voice quaking ever so slightly with emotion as she remained turned away from him.

He took a few steps forward softly, carefully, prompting her to do the same until they were near the reflective pool once more. His heart ached. "Will you not look upon me like this?" he asked, his voice breaking alongside a small tear in his heart at thinking she was hiding her thoughts from him skillfully as she had done before and was truly mortified at seeing him in this form. "Am I not still that wicked Loki that took you and then that noble king that took you as a queen? Why won't you hear me?"

"I am listening to you, Loki," Darcy snapped back, her voice raising. She turned for a moment and he noticed the glistening of tears fighting their way to the surface. "What else do you want to say, huh? That you're sorry about this afternoon, that you were well within your rights but that you regret upsetting me and Gaea, that you just want to do what's best for the creatures that need you?" she retorted with a tone of resentment. He swallowed hard and retracted his hand as she spoke. "And then what, we have make-up sex and go home as if nothing happened until the next time, right?"

"No," Loki said firmly. The firmness and tone in his voice shocked Darcy. So much, in fact, that she took a defensive step backwards and shrank at least an inch. "Love-making is never to be used as an apology, ever. Nor is anyone within their right, regardless of title . . ." he said, sighing with the last few words. "To hurt the ones they love."

"Then why the whole change here, why all this?" she asked gesturing to his appearance and her own. "It's just another reminder, Loki that you're not human, that you're above being human," she retorted. He frowned at her as she allowed a single tear to fall and then furiously wiped it away forbidding the rest. "It's another reminder of beautiful you are and how plain I'll always be; no matter what gifts your father bestows on me, no matter what title I'm given, I'll always be just the human, just the plain old human that no one on earth wanted and that you . . ." she said trailing off. She shook her head. "That you're stuck with for the rest of my natural life."

"Darcy, I would never be-saddle myself with an unfit companion," Loki stated just as firmly and comfortingly. "You were never a mere mortal that is why you never found your place among them. You have always been more, much more, you always will be. You weren't a diamond in a filthy lump of coal," he said. Darcy's heart ached at being reminded of those words. He knew he had to repair the words now, now while they were fresh and able to be restored with kindness. "You were a precious gem, a glistening jewel of compassion beckoning a fallen prince in the desert. You are the only creature I have ever truly loved, will ever love."

Darcy shook her head and continued to fight away the urge to cry. "Kindness, compassion, rare . . . those are all compliments, Loki and I'm not saying I don't believe them or that I'm not grateful," she replied. The trickster's heart leapt as he finally found the root fear in her mind, the truth of her unhappiness and anger. It was precisely the same as his, though hers had been exposed all along. She turned away and grasped her brow. "You don't think I'm beautiful, you don't think you're beautiful, you don't think anything anywhere is beautiful . . . just superior or inferior," she replied. He frowned and looked away. "And I know which one you'll always see me as."

"But, Darcy," Loki said, softly catching her hand in his own. "Have you never seen how lovely you are? Is that not superiority itself in a universe of the mundane? How can you think so mildly of a woman as beautiful as you?"

Her pale fingers were lifeless with inward sorrow from years of cruel jests, undeserved rejection, and unappreciated charm. He ached for her; to be so obviously lovely within and without and to have never been treated like the treasure she was. He squeezed her hand gently and she reveled, even in the saddened lifelessness of her fingers, in the marvelous cool aura on his pale, blue skin. It felt now as if she were touching a living body of mint tincture, such chilled flesh on the surface but such pulsing warm blood beneath it.

He tugged at her hand and gently urged her to sit beside him at the edge of the reflecting pool. Darcy sighed and moved beside him, kneeling on the smooth, stone rim instead of sitting as the two gazed into the water. The moon danced a subtle rhythm in the ripples that formed from its center and gracefully outward. He turned and placed his other hand gently on the side of her face. Darcy managed to stifle the small jump she would've usually made at something so cool touching her skin, particularly while she was blushing from all of this finery and intimate affection. "Here I show you all that I am, but you have never seen all that you are."

He reached down and removed her glasses, waving a hand and willing them back to Stark Tower to her own bedroom. Oddly, Darcy could still see clearly as he took her by both hands, guiding them both to standing in front of the enormous gazing pool. Gracefully, he moved behind her and gently placed a wintry blue hand on either of her hips, widened now having borne him at least one child. While Loki wasn't hoping that the night would end in the conception of another child right out, he couldn't help but fill with enthusiasm for more offspring with this woman every time he thought of their small family. At the moment, his mind wandered to more celestial desires and he softly grasped her hips as the two stared down at their reflections. "Do you see how lovely your eyes are even in the mildest light? Green and precious like the rolling hills of your ancestors' homeland. Do you see how perfectly your hair mingled with the vermillion? As warm and smooth as alabaster, Darcy. You are more than intelligent, you are more than kind . . ." here he leaned down and softly kissed the side of her face. "You are more than beautiful." He pulled her closer to him, her back able to feel the chill of his Jotun flesh even through the silk and it was not uncomfortable.

The image reminded Darcy of the embrace she had seen in the mandala with Kama poised overhead. It filled her with an unimaginable giddiness which she suppressed immediately with a more fervent desire to make the moment last. She suddenly froze and was unable to hide the tiniest shudder as she felt a second pair of hands reach around her bust-line. She could still clearly feel the strong pair of hands on her hips and, as she gazed into the water with shock easing away, she suddenly noticed that he must've magically enhanced his own body with another set of arms, just like Shiva, and they were tenderly at work. He cautiously removed her necklace and ornate earrings before deftly tearing each flower garland in one place so that it became nothing more than a strand of blossoms. He tossed the strands of blooms onto the water's surface, a distance enough away so that he and Darcy could still see their embrace.

He then reached downward carefully and slipped his two superfluous hands underneath the silken top. Darcy let out a small cry as he effortlessly ripped it in half, the slight sound of the torn fabric creating a sudden surge of warmth within her. The cool night air greeted her chest and belly with a familiar pleasantness and she breathed deeply. Loki grinned as he saw that she was both somewhat unsure of this but very willing to go further. Not a single part of her seemed repulsed at him even in this form that was not entirely him. With each azure hand he reached up and cupped her bosom affectionately, her round, lusciousness fitting perfectly into the palms and fingers of both hands as if he had simply taken a pair of freshly ripened pomegranates and was holding them aloft. Now Darcy could feel the natural chill of his flesh more powerfully and, mingling with the rising heat of her own body, it felt incredibly soothing and invigorating all at once. He noted the girl's smile and enjoyment in their reflection and carefully, gently stroked either nipple with his thumbs, the cold calling for attention from the small members and prompting yet another startled, sultry gasp from Darcy.

The hands on her hips pulled her more firmly and fully against him. His own desires had built into an undeniable display that she could feel pressing against her back, undemanding but aching in silence. She let out a tiny breath of surprise as the chilled and chiseled torso of her beloved fit neatly against her warm, curved back. He leaned down; grasping and grinning as he spoke. "How very like the moon they are . . . _velut Luna_," he whispered, squeezing either breast softly for emphasis. "Satellites of pleasant curves and an apsis of inviting tranquility," he muttered, now squeezing his fingers around her hips as well and allowing his forehead to rest ever so slightly on the side of her cheek. Darcy moaned as he began to nuzzle her ear and neck as he spoke again. "I do grow so very impatient to know their supple perilune against my heart once more . . . to make that small step for myself . . . and leap after leap after leap for you and no one else."

Darcy let out a wonderful sigh and reached up with one hand to cover the fingers on her right bosom. With the other, she cupped her own hand around the side of his face, her fingers tingling and dancing between the warmth within her and the icy veneer of her blue skinned lover. He smiled down at her. She suddenly whirled around and gazed deeply into his eyes, searching for the sincerity that he offered on so very few, but so very wonderful occasions. He seemed instantly made vulnerable and ashamed and took two steps backwards. He raised both sets of arms and gazed back at her as she noticed the ruby that had formed in his forehead in the very center of his natural markings; the circles that protruded from his Jotun brow seemed to be ripples in a pool of thought stemming from the ruby that had been dropped in gently by his lover. Their edges now reached as far as he could allow and he took a half a step closer.

"This is what I am, what I appear as without natural deception." He reached out and took her left hand firmly with one of his own. As he squeezed her hand, his own grew warm and up to its wrist became the pale ivory flesh she recognized from the very first moment she had seen him. "Not as pure and perfect as your own image, I am marked as a monster . . . a creature of destruction. My very trappings are frigid and lifeless, the colour of a bitter winter. And my eyes . . ." he said, beginning to whisper in a quivering voice. Darcy stared at him in confusion. Nothing he was saying was true, not a word of it, but it was what he had come to believe and for whatever reason it had driven him to becoming the hungry and vengeful creature she had first known. A tear streamed down her cheek as he released her hands. "My eyes are those of a demon's. You cannot deny it, I have seen their visages in your mortal works of art; eyes like blood, that crave blood and shed rivers of blood in the end." He took another half step backwards and seemed to motionlessly gesture and observe the additions he had made to the Jotun form. "At least like this, with these falsehoods at my side and the jewel of sight, the length of my hair, it creates just another illusion, but a more welcome one. Not a creator, not Krishna, but a destroyer, Kali without a garland of skulls and a river of blood to wade through."

"Loki, you're none of those things," Darcy suddenly blurted out, too overwhelmed by his self-loathing to remain silent any longer. "You're not a destroyer, not anymore, and you're not a monster. You never were," she said. She strode forward and reached up, taking either side of his face in her hands as she smiled at him. "Blue isn't the colour of lifelessness or winter . . . it's the colour of the ocean, of the sky, of a wealth of life and freedom to fly," she corrected. He stared back at her, his heart surging with joy as she described something so beautiful, so genuine. She reached up with the first finger of one hand and gently stroked his cheek beneath his eye with it and grinned.

"And red eyes do not crave blood, not usually," she said as she remembered most of the stories of monsters from her childhood having black or white eyes. In truth, while some creatures that were fierce and evil did have red eyes, so did some magical and mystical creatures as well. Rarely was red always evil or always good. She stroked his check again as he reached forward and grasped her chin. "You've never heard the term 'red-eye' here before? It means you're tired after a long and hard journey. There isn't evil, good, or even indifference in them. There is an element of weariness about them and you have more than ample reason to be exhausted after a lifetime of hardships."

Loki marveled at how greatly her vocabulary had grown. He pressed his thumb against her chin for a moment and leaned his face closer to her. The sky, she said, and the sea. Perhaps the height and depth brought out a poet that lay sleeping within her. He leaned forward and softly placed his darkened lips against hers. Darcy was shocked at the cold for but a moment, but quickly wrapped her arms around him and parted his lips ever so gently with the tip of her tongue and then simply pressed her own lips more firmly against his own, warming him throughout entirely. He sighed and wrapped the lower set of arms around her back and put the other two hands on the back of her head, stroking her soft, sweet hair and running his long fingers down her braid.

"Am I not what you fear?" he asked, still afraid himself of the answer.

"No," she replied simply, whispering against his cheek as she stroked his smooth face with her own. She suddenly chuckled and pulled away, looking into his eyes and putting a hand on his cheek again. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but you look like an Avatar."

"Which one?" Loki asked in confusion. "I do not recall any of them looking like this, precisely like this."

"Well, their ears were longer, they had a tail, and your braid's just hair," Darcy said stepping back and then walking a few paces away, glancing over her shoulder coyly. "But the rest of you looks just like a four-armed Avatar."

"None of the Avatar had more limbs than a human, they appeared entirely mortal," Loki corrected as he followed her movements. Darcy strode past a large palm, lazily dragging her hand along the bark as she walked in a circle around it. Loki moved in the opposite direction, meeting her face to face and stopping her as she stood in front of him. "All of the incarnations of Rama were . . . "

Darcy laughed. "No, not an Avatar like that, an Avatar like a . . ." she began. She tried to think of how best to explain this to him. she had neglected to have him sit through the film with her for fear of his reaction to yet another reason to be angry with humanity and argue that they needed guidance before such horrors befell their own world and, given the events of the film, other worlds as well. She sighed. "I'll have to show you sometime, not tonight but someday."

Loki thought back and then suddenly grinned. "The Naa'vi; you meant to say a Naa'vi, not an Avatar," he corrected. Darcy stared back at him in confusion and delight all at once. He put a set of hands on her shoulders. "I have seen much of your world that you do not know about, either," he explained. She smiled as he leaned forward, honored to have been compared to such noble, fierce, and strong creatures by his beloved. Loki deepened the kiss, but made no movement to enter territory without an invitation, simply strengthening the embrace of their lips one upon another. After a few brief moments of sharing breath, he pulled his face away an inch and smiled. "But perhaps even without _**tsa-heylu**_, I have come to know humanity more through you than anything. Perhaps . . ." he mused, stroking her braid affectionately. "Perhaps it is more as Rama's life on earth becoming more mortal with each sorrow and more human in the planes above with divine knowledge and . . ." he leaned forward and breathed in the scent of her hair, the jasmine, the lilies, and the vermillion, " . . . and ecstasy."

Darcy felt his breath, cool and sensual against the nape of her neck, more naked now with her hair pulled back than ever before. She shuddered and sighed, then quickly grasped his shoulders fiercely and forced him to meet her gaze. He grinned, noting the desire in her eyes that he had ignited. He had done so before, but never in this form. Darcy wanted him, all of him, the trickster, the King of Sylvanheim, the Asgardian, and now the Jotun as well. She gazed down at his bare chest for a moment and placed both palms over his obliques; then, running her hands smoothly upward she turned her wrists so that her thumbs medially stroked towards his sternum and her fingers wandered along the curve of his ribs until she clutched him beneath the pectorals tightly, fingers wrapped around his tensile serratuses with poised affection. The strength in both her hands amazed him and she looked up at him with a desire he had never seen before.

"You want us to learn and practice what is written in the manuscript?" she said. He nodded slowly and then felt her squeeze both hands firmly, but gently. He drew in a breath at the warmth of her touch, wrapping the first set of arms about her as he leaned forward, gazing into her eyes inquisitively as to why she chose this manner of affection for the moment. She smirked. "Respond to an action with a counter-action, to a blow with a counter-blow, and by this same logic . . ." she said as he leaned closer, now realizing that she was grasping his chest in the very same strength he had done for her and proving that she had already been so very schooled in at least some of the texts. He let out a satisfied breath at both of these thoughts and pressed his marked brow against hers as she completed the verse. ". . . to a kiss with a counter-kiss" She drew in a sharp breath and suddenly took hold of him at the base of either ear and kissed him so passionately that he was sure he felt her draw breath instantly from his lungs.

He gasped inwardly and returned the gesture, but with greater enthusiasm, still keeping his eager tongue behind the gates of flesh that had yet to grant him easement. Darcy parted her lips gently and bid him welcome, but only within the entranceway, keeping their kiss as chaste as possible in the midst of such desire. He pulled her closer to him and guided them blindly to the round bed covered in sundry pillows and silken blankets. Darcy allowed him to lift her into the air, grasping her tightly and securely beneath each buttock as he set her on the bed and leaned over her. They stared at one another in silence for a moment. He heaved a sigh of rapture and reached out, stroking the side of her face tenderly once more as he recited the next truth.

"There is no matter for numerical lists or textbook table of contents. For people joined in sexual ecstasy, passion is what makes things happen. He smiled and moved forward placing one knee on the bed as she scooted backwards, still holding herself upright with both palms on the bed. "You have seen me, all of me," he whispered then looked into her eyes pleadingly. "Will you still have me?"

She sat forward, tucking her knees behind her and stretching upward, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving to speak directly into his ear. "Yes, Loki, I will have you . . . all of you," she whispered lovingly.

He let out a gasp of joy, unable to hide a few tears that fell in pure relief as the second set of arms shrank back into nothing and the jewel disappeared. Darcy realized that he was returning to his true form and she quickly grabbed the braid tightly and then looked fiercely into his eyes. "Not this . . . keep this," she commanded. He lifted a brow and smirked suggestively. She smiled back and released his hair, scooting back into the mound of pillows. "At least for tonight."

"As my queen desires," he replied. He crawled onto the bed and gazed down at her nude chest and midsection, a hungry growl forming in his throat. "Your desire, my love, I have feared it and craved it," he admitted. In truth he had been terrified of the rejection of his true form in front of so innocent, so loving a creature. Now to have her not only show him the compassion and tenderness he had come to expect, but to show a ravenous lust for his chilled visage made him all the more engorged. He slowed his breathing, remembering to himself that if he lost control he could harm Darcy more permanently than when he had wounded her hand on Sylvanheim. The texts Chandi had given him had clearly stated that even humans could do harm to one another even when trying to please the other. _And so a man who understands the text will apply it only after he has come to know the delicacy, ferocity, and strength of his young woman . . ."_, he quoted inwardly, thinking about his beloved's strengths. She had faced a dragon, a sorcerer, even the All-Father for him. He would have to control himself, yes, but he had a great appetite to satisfy in this mortal. Darcy watched him close his eyes and breathe slowly. She grew impatient and let out a grunt of her own, reaching for the silken belt at his pants and pulling it free, furiously. He reached down for her hands and held them back, removing the rest of his clothing with one hand as he crawled over her. Darcy gasped at the sight of him like this. It hadn't occurred to her that in this form that he would still be blue from the waist down, but it was stunning, like a pillar of sapphire. This was surely more beautiful than any human, or for that matter, any Asgardian could've boasted.

She suddenly looked up at him timidly, worriedly. "Loki, this isn't going to be any different, is it? I mean, you're still you and I'm not going to get hurt am I?" she asked nervously.

He reached down and stroked the back of her head gingerly, tracing the braid once more and smiling comfortingly. "I am different in appearance and perhaps a slight change in . . . well, temperature," he remarked. He leaned more closely, pressing her back and head against the pillows as she made herself comfortable and he released her hands. "But there will be nothing dangerous, nothing painful," he said. Darcy bit her lip and glanced to the side for a moment, still unsure. He suddenly, firmly grasped her chin and looked deeply into her eyes as he spoke. "Tonight we are the same, a race of souls and nothing more. And, since there is no difference in the species of a couple, they seek similar sensual pleasure." He stroked her jawline with his thumb, drawing a cool line that soothed her. She closed her eyes for a moment, reminding herself that he had only ever given her love when they had been intimate; no selfishness at all. "I seek no pain for you, and you seek none for me."

She nodded and then shifted. "You're sure you can handle this?" she asked, still uncertain about the entire situation. He stared at her in confusion. "You know that this kind of thing, that these passages and these movements take a long time, right?"

He grinned. "I only wished to show you what awaits in the future tonight," he explained. "We will build our strength together to accomplish the rest. Until then, I concern myself only with your fulfillment." He thought back to one of the passages and shuddered as a surge of heat moved through him, remembering his past encounters with Darcy and how they had proven the words true over and over again. "Men's sensual pleasure comes at the end of sex, but women's is continual." Yes, she was continually desiring him; that was why she grew so furious when he denied her even the smallest request travelling . . . he had dissatisfied her. "No longer," he whispered aloud.

She leaned back and placed her hand curled gently beneath his chin. "No longer?" she asked.

He suddenly growled and reached one hand beneath her, drawing her upward into him. She gasped and let out a small cry, steadying herself by clinging to his powerful, wintry shoulders. She could feel the azure monolith beneath her, but not within her, obviously deliberate on his part. She bent her right leg at the knee and pressed her leg against his powerful thigh, pulling herself forward even more as she continued to steady herself. She dug her nails in tightly, leaving the lover's marks he had read so much about as he placed his other hand beneath her right shoulder blade and clutched her left buttock, savoring what softness there was to the small, fleshy muscle and the smooth roundness as well. _How very like the moon every part of the woman was_, he realized to himself; _round, smooth, supple, and waxing and waning towards desire_. _Velut Luna, indeed_.

He growled once more and sent a surge of his magic through Darcy. Her eyes widened as a stream of electric ecstasy moved through her nerves first from her loins and then through the rest of her extremities as if flames and fulfillment shot out through the tips of her fingers, toes, and even her eyes. She breathed deeply as the massive wave of pleasure subsided, pulling herself closer to him and leaning her head against his shoulder as she began to moisten with sweat in the humid night. A breeze moved past them chilling Darcy ever so slightly, but igniting the trickster once more. With his left hand he grasped the silken trousers still left on her and slowly, deftly, slipped them off in one fluid movement. Darcy shuddered yet again as the sensation of the motion of the silk and the presence of his hand kindled the flames already lapping from her groin higher and higher into her mind. He reached down and softly stroked from her knee down her inner thigh with his right hand, gazing tenderly into her eyes.

"A fire is never sated by logs, nor the ocean by the rivers that flow into it; death cannot be sated by all the creatures of the world, but a fair-eyed woman alone, is all that can sate an amorous man." He stared down at her, practically panting after the quote. "I can wait for you _**no longer**_ . . . I can restrain my powers over the dark elements, but I cannot restrain my desire for you, Darcy."

"Then make love to me, Loki, I will sate you . . . always," Darcy moaned happily. She trembled ever so slightly at this new and more complete creature that was her husband. A twinge of fear gripped her as she realized that she was terribly inexperienced, even for as much as she had read and fantasized, and had no idea, no set plans or practiced movements to please him as he obviously desired tonight. Reading the texts must have made him long to try newer and more sensual poses that would make the pictures themselves look like a children's book. He read her thoughts and leaned forward, placing his cool lips between her breasts and deeply kissing her heart, reveling and moaning in the pleasure that the thundering rhythm of her blood and affection brought him. He moved an inch upward, softly kissing her collarbone as it met with the breastbone, almost aching as the sound of her heart grew more faint away from its cradle in her silken valley. Darcy arched her back ever so slightly as another flame within her reached the base of her head and she longed to have him within and without her. The slight chill his flesh brought to her was intoxicating in the warm night and against her burning skin. As he made his way upward, kissing, he came to linger at the side of her head beneath her ear.

"We are new again tonight, now that we know one another without pretense, without deception's cloak or glamour. Do not fret over fabricated displays, they are perfected by time, but nothing can compare to the singularity of each moment with a goddess in human form . . . my Artemis, my Khonsu, my Diana," he purred. Darcy moaned and sighed. She loved the moon, loved it, and it only served to stoke the hellish flames within her that he used it as such an obvious tool of affection. He pressed his lips against her beneath her ear, sending another surge of his magic through her. Darcy felt as though she'd been struck by exquisite lightning again, crying out and tensing every muscle fiber in her body and relaxing as pleasure oozed from each open pore on her naked skin. Loki growled all the more at being so close to her and hearing the cry of ecstasy firsthand. She might've been inexperienced in precise moves, they'd been wed only a year after all and he had hardly been as attentive as he should've been to allow her such an education, but she was a glowing phoenix when spread naked and carnal before him. Flames from an otherworldly pleasure raged within her and that was enough for him. He grinned and spoke softly, "After all, the emotions and fantasies conjured up in a moment in the midst of sexual chaos cannot be imagined even in dreams.

"I . . . I . . . ," she muttered. "I love you, Loki," she finally whispered fiercely, tears streaming from both of them mingling with the sweat of love and night. "I love you now, I have always loved you; and no matter what you look like . . . ," she said, pulling his face in front of hers and pressing their brows together as they panted and rested a moment, "I always will."

He paused a moment and traced her face with the blade of one finger before reaching beneath her shoulder once more. He clutched her to him, pressing their hearts as close to one another as he could as he smoothly moved within her. He anxiously waited, tensing a few nerves within him, for her cry of pain or discomfort. To his surprise she instead gave a deep, guttural moan of pleasure and pressed her hips forward. This casket of winter fit perfectly, unabated, within her raging volcano. Loki slowly lowered them both back onto the silken surface of the bed and withdrew slightly. Darcy sighed and grabbed hold of his shoulders, pressing her head against his chest as he began a steady, cosmic rhythm meeting the two elements . . . fire and ice.

The pleasant warmth that surrounded his own desire surged through him like nothing else. Not even Sif with all her prowess had gathered such wonderful heat and tensile force. Forget the moon, this woman was like the sun and he praised the heat and light with each undulating thrust! Darcy matched his movements with her own, amazed at how incredible the cool felt within her and how that, while he himself was chilled, the feelings moving throughout her lost none of their own heat. The swells of bliss filling him were powerful enough to have forged Mjolnir itself! No, not just Mjolnir, Darcy's heat was no dying star and his manhood was no cold and fading anvil . . . they were the very image of Muspellheim and Nifleheim in one; they were the universe itself! This was it, they realized at once, the meeting of the night and day, the yin and yang . . . Tantra at its peak. As Loki filled with the blazing light of his beloved, Darcy rose to meet him alight with smoldering frost. The two shouted in cosmic delight as the elements collided in a cataclysm so grand it shook the world around them. They screamed in utter joy, the one now soothed with the cool gratification of the other and her beloved warmed with an everlasting promise even as he left her and laid down beside her. They wrapped their arms around one another, Darcy curling her right leg around his and he pulled her head against his chest; their limbs intertwined as trees strengthened by a storm.

"Darcy," he whispered as he felt that sleep was about to take her. "You are more beautiful than the stars of all the nine realms, of all the realms beyond . . . you are my only love." She smiled brightly and drew in a deep breath as sleep took her. Loki congratulated himself yet again on exhausting her with his magnificence. It would be difficult to get her strong enough to fulfill each and every part of the manuscript, but since Odin had granted her long life there would be plenty of time. He smiled more brightly and turned to her as his braid disappeared, his skin became its pale ivory hue, and his eyes returned to their verdant adoration of this mortal. It was true, what he had read in the Kama Sutra, the book from Chandi's Ashram:

"Even at the end, love enhanced by thoughtful acts and words and deeds exchanged in confidence gives rise to the highest ecstasy."

He would simply have to continue to enhance his love with thoughtful acts, words, and deeds. No more defiance, if he could help it, from what she wanted when they visited this realm. No comparing humans to base creatures, base elements, or other offensive terms. And he would sadly, solemnly, and begrudgingly even do his utmost to behave more cordially toward her living family . . . as irritating as he was. Loki sighed and kissed the top of her head, grinning brightly at the thought of years beyond this night, of nights beyond this moment, and of moments beyond this very place. At this very point in time and space, anything was possible and all the sweetness of the universe lay beside him. He needed and wanted nothing more. He smirked at the thought of having so much more than anyone in any of the kingdoms of his heritage, even those in power.

_I could forgo kingship, _he thought to himself. _My birthright to rule at all; I can ignore the thrones in all the realms if this is mine and only mine._ He pulled Darcy all the closer and felt himself surge upward in the ecstasy of pure love for its own sake and unending compassion. _Yes, I can put aside being king, if this is what it means to be a god in the embrace of mortals . . . an avatar. Yes, this is the only definition of the divine, and it shall be mine, no, ours for eternity_.

(*)

Back at Stark Tower, Tony found himself having to comfort Gaea back to sleep after she had sensed her mother missing. A note that had been left by unexplained means, yet again, by the trickster told Stark that he had taken Darcy to properly set things right and that they would return by morning. Of course the mortal genius didn't trust the trickster, not by any means, but at least the child was safe with him and he could keep close watch on her and intercede should anything else happen. Stark forgot that, being mortal, if Loki wanted to use magic to take his daughter away or if any other creature wanted to do so, then he would be powerless to stop it. But the illusion kept the man confident and alert which was more important than thinking realistically. He left the room as soon as the girl was sound asleep once more, still enchanted by the program he had installed to turn the light on the arc reactor pink with the press of a small button on his hand that he kept poised for the occasions where his favorite niece would gently kiss his cheek and hug him tightly. He suddenly noticed Darcy's glasses sitting on the counter and growled softly. The trickster had originally magicked them back to her sleeping quarters but to make a distinct display had transported them to the counter in front of his frien-emy. Stark glared at them and then suddenly noticed a piece of paper beneath them he picked it up and looked over the ornate penmanship with symbols that he recognized as belonging to the five principles of meditation.

**The Five Dharmas (or Truths) of Midgard and Its People:**

**1.** The people of Midgard are vast, diverse, difficult, and wondrous. They will often quarrel and make unrest, but their creations made toward enlightenment stem from the utterings of those they call gods.

**2.** Though differences in strength and longevity divide mortals from Asgardians indefinitely, they share the same needs, emotions, thoughts, and desires making them equals in the plane of highest existence.

**3.** Love must be proven to be true; else it is just pleasant deception.

**4.** Anger is kindled by sorrow and all angered beings must be comforted before they can correct any error.

**5.** Beauty, true and superficial, are the sun and moon in their own regard. The burning compassion of the kind-hearted is reflected in the changing body, but the light is ever present and inspiring.

"Nice," muttered Tony as he tossed it back onto the counter. "Now he's getting philosophical, that's just great."

"Oh I am so glad you approve," Loki said casually. Stark whirled around at the sight of the trickster looking far too happy with himself, having returned to his usual green and golden trappings. He glanced down at Darcy's glasses and then back at Stark. "I do so pity you spending your nights alone."

"Uh, actually if you know anything about my reputation it's difficult to get a night alone," Stark corrected.

"Yes, but it's not with the one you truly want now is it?" he said with a wry smile. Stark glared at him and breathed deeply. He loved Pepper, but she was just too good, too wonderful to be with him and it pained him to think of trying. "You know, I've committed crimes against your world, against your . . . cousin," Loki remarked slowly and cautiously as he moved to the doorway of Gaea's room, looking in at her happily. "And yet with charm and equal compassion from those charmed I find myself in better company than you. Care to accept my assistance?"

"Uh, I think I'm good, thanks though," Stark replied with a wink and a bitter smirk. "You can do me a favor, though, and stop making my cousin's life miserable."

"I already have," Loki replied. "But I do confess that there will be ups and downs I am prepared to both tackle and take responsibility for. No one's perfect, after all, least of all you."

"Thanks for that," Stark quipped back. There was no getting out of having to deal with the little cretin, he realized. Maybe the trickster was on to something, though. Maybe even with all his flaws there was a way to have someone as wonderful as Pepper for his own. If Darcy could forgive someone as cruel and wicked as Loki, then there had to be hope for him. "So where's the wife? You leave her back with mommy and daddy or somewhere else this time?"

"She is in Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, the outdoor bridal chamber," he replied with perfect pronunciation. "We never really did have a traditional honeymoon, after all. I hope it wouldn't be too much to ask for you to watch after Gaea while we stay a while longer." Relief washed over Tony. In the past he had been allowed short visits, but not much more. Preference was given to her guardians on Alfsheim, Sylvanheim, and to her Godfather, Volstagg, on Asgard. He grinned, hiding the real inner joy as best he could and nodding. Loki smiled and nodded. "Good, then. I thank you and bid you good evening. We shall return in a week's time at the very least." Loki turned and moved towards Gaea's quarters to tell her the same and bid his child goodbye for a short time.

"Hey, wait a minute," Tony called after him as a thought crossed his mind. He knew that this would be the only chance to ask an immortal this question and get an honest answer. "Alright, creepy or not, I have to ask," Stark said carefully and quietly. He moved a few inches closer to the trickster making sure that Gaea could not hear them. "Is the G-Spot for real or is it a myth?"

"Actually," Loki replied with a naughty grin. "There is a whole alphabet within each and every woman. I've only been with two, mind you, but I can safely boast perfect spelling," he replied with a wink. Stark stared at him in confusion for a moment then a slight mixture of amazement, admiration, and anger at realizing that not only had this being just bragged about satisfying his only living relative, but that he had implied there was another woman as well at some point. Loki sighed and patted Stark's shoulder with confidence. "And believe me; vowels are worth more than consonants . . . always." With that he silently entered his daughter's room and tenderly explained the circumstances surrounding her stay with her uncle. Gaea felt relief at her parents going away together for something happy and bid her father goodbye excitedly as she lay back down to sleep. Loki slipped out of the room and over to the counter, taking Darcy's glasses back in his hand as he smirked and moved towards the glass wall, disappearing in the process.

"Lucky bastard," Stark muttered.

"Well, that tends to happen when you grab life by the horns," Pepper said as she strode into the room in her nightshirt. She crossed her arms and smiled at her employer who had asked her to stay the evening in case Gaea or Darcy needed something he couldn't readily supply. She grinned and strode towards him. "I guess it happens even more if you're wearing said horns."

"Yeah, about that, is there ever going to be a visit where they don't go off and have a couple of trysts on our watch?" Stark muttered, putting his arms around Pepper's waist and pulling her to him. The embrace was more than he could ask for at the moment and it satisfied his gnawing loneliness enough to lower the bluish light on the arc reactor. "I mean, what about our needs? What if we want a break?"

"I somehow don't see their being here as a barrier to that," Pepper replied with a wink. Stark grinned as she put her arms around him in return and smiled peacefully at him. "You just need to find the right words and timing."

"Yeah," he said, contemplating Loki's offer. "It figures their fighting would end in a perfect 'happily ever after'. He's always got a way out with her."

"Seems that way," Pepper remarked, as Tony moved behind her and leaned his chin over her shoulder, exhaling. She smiled as the two looked out at the night sky. "Do you think she's told him she's pregnant again yet?"


End file.
